The first and only time I have ever been able to witness a Vicious Rumors live performance was back on the "Welcome to the Ball" tour. I had only been in to heavy metal for a few years at that time, so any chance I got to see one of my favorite bands perform live was a special occasion. VR was playing at the now defunct Thirsty Whale outside of Chicago, so I gathered up my friends Ed and Mel and made the fifty mile trek from our little farming town of Woodstock down in to the "big city" to witness one of my all time favorite metal acts. It would be worth the effort.

Vicious Rumors was booked to play twice that night - a 6pm all ages show (which I greatly appreciated since we were all 20 at the time) and a later 21 and over show. Since it was a Saturday we ended up at the bar a good hour before start time. The doors were all locked, but I could hear the beautiful sounds of "Dust to Dust" pouring out from underneath the door. "They must be playing a tape," I muttered to my friends. But the closer I listened, I noticed something was missing. Even though the music was perfect - exactly like it was on the album - there were no vocals. Vicious Rumors - my favorite band - was doing a sound check, and they were KICKING ASS. I couldn't believe it. Hours before showtime, when most bands would be noodling on and yelling at the sound guy to adjust their pitch, this band was already in peak form. I couldn't believe my ears. Then silence. Moments later, the door opened and out from the darkness came most of the band - Dave, Larry, Geoff and Mark. I didn't see Carl at the time, but honestly I was more anxious to try and get the guys to sign my cassette inserts (the only paper I had on me). Everyone obliged, and even though I've since replace my tapes with CDs I still have those two, autographs and all.

I was in heaven. None of us had expected to meet the band, especially not before the show. But soon they were ushered away in their van, and we were left with time to kill before the show. Eventually we got inside, listening to the first two opening acts, waiting for the main event. I was shocked and saddened by the Chicago crowd - a band that I knew was playing concert halls in Europe was playing a small bar outside of the Midwest's biggest city and we had maybe a hundred people representing us (it's a sad day when I prefer to go to Milwaukee to see a metal concert - at least they appreciate good music). But despite the turn out I was thrilled - screw the rest of 'em for not knowing what they were missing - I was standing front row center.

The show itself was unbelievable. Here I was, standing inches from the men who had produced some of my favorite songs, and I was there with them, singing alone, banging my head, loving every minute of it. At one point Carl, in an effort to get the crowd into it, stood on the edge of the stage in front of me. He swung his arm out, and clobbered my up side the head. I was briefly dazed, and once he saw that I was okay Carl grabbed my by the hair and proceeded to head bang with me. One of my favorite memories. I felt a real connection with "The Voice" that night - I think he respected that I knew every word he was singing, from the material on the new album all the way back to "Lady Took a Chance" (my personal favorite) and "Worlds and Machines." The show was perfect from start to finish. No missed notes, no blown lines - everything was incredible, and I knew I was in the presence of greatness. I ever walked away with a broken drum stick that flew out from Larry's drum kit during his solo. I couldn't ask for anything more.